Alexandra “Sasha” Natapoff writes: “I was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts by professor parents. After studying philosophy as a Yale undergraduate, I headed for Washington, D.C., to save the world, where it took several years of public policy work and community organizing to figure out that democracy wasn’t that simple. Stanford Law School was a wonderful experience, in large part because it gave me the chance to start writing. I then went back to D.C. to clerk, first for Judge Paul Friedman in federal district court, and then for Judge David Tatel on the D.C. Circuit, after which I went to Baltimore on a fellowship from the Open Society Institute. I spent two years in low-income communities providing legal services and education, motivated in part by my selfish desire to hear firsthand what people living in rampant urban disfunction think about our legal system. That experience propelled me into the Federal Public Defenders Office where I worked for three years.

I started teaching last year at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. As a scholar, my current focus is on the uncomfortable intersection of legal doctrine with the realities of the criminal system. For example, I have written about the legal institution of snitching and its caustic effects on high-crime communities in which snitching is common. I am now writing about the personal, dignitary, and democratic harms caused by the pervasive silencing of criminal defendants. I am also enormously enjoying kindergarten with my six-year old son, who, when I ask him too many questions about his day at school, likes to remind me that he has the right to remain silent."

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Comments

Hey guys, thanks a lot for turning me on to Ms. Natapoff's Snitch article. Terrific stuff. I wish we'd had her research in 2001 when we passed a requirement for corroborating evidence for testimony of confidential informants in drug cases in TX (HB 2351, 77th session). Best,